Table of Contents

This study was originally processed, archived, and disseminated by Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR), a project funded by the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Great Plains Population and Environment Data: Social and Demographic Data, 1870-2000 [United States] (ICPSR 4296)

Principal Investigator(s):
Gutmann, Myron P., University of Michigan

Summary:

The social and demographic data included in this
collection consist of a single data file for each decennial year
between 1870 and 2000, covering 10 of the 12 Great Plains states.
Information on a variety of social and demographic topics was gathered
to historically characterize populations living in counties within the
United States Great Plains, in terms of: (1) urban, rural, and total
population, (2) vital statistics, (3) net migration, (4) age and sex,
(5) nativity and ancestry, (6) education and literacy, (7) religion,
(8) industry, and (9) housing and other characteristics. These data
include selected material compiled as part of the United States
population census. The United States Census of Population and Housing
has been conducted since 1790 on a regular schedule that is
decennial. The county-level social and demographic data produced by
the United States government as a result constitute a consistent
series of measures capturing changes in the United States population's
size, composition, and other characteristics. A subset of the
variables available from the short and long-form survey questionnaires
of the United States Census of Population and Housing (as compiled for
counties) were extracted from previously existing digital files.
Besides the decennial census of the population, county-level data were
drawn from an assortment of existing digital files as well as sources
that were manually digitized. Other data include compilations of
county-level information gathered from various federal agencies and
private organizations as well as the agriculture and economic
censuses. Supplementing these compilations are manually digitized
consumer market data, religious data, and vital statistics, including
information about births, deaths, marriage, and divorce.

The social and demographic data included in this
collection consist of a single data file for each decennial year
between 1870 and 2000, covering 10 of the 12 Great Plains states.
Information on a variety of social and demographic topics was gathered
to historically characterize populations living in counties within the
United States Great Plains, in terms of: (1) urban, rural, and total
population, (2) vital statistics, (3) net migration, (4) age and sex,
(5) nativity and ancestry, (6) education and literacy, (7) religion,
(8) industry, and (9) housing and other characteristics. These data
include selected material compiled as part of the United States
population census. The United States Census of Population and Housing
has been conducted since 1790 on a regular schedule that is
decennial. The county-level social and demographic data produced by
the United States government as a result constitute a consistent
series of measures capturing changes in the United States population's
size, composition, and other characteristics. A subset of the
variables available from the short and long-form survey questionnaires
of the United States Census of Population and Housing (as compiled for
counties) were extracted from previously existing digital files.
Besides the decennial census of the population, county-level data were
drawn from an assortment of existing digital files as well as sources
that were manually digitized. Other data include compilations of
county-level information gathered from various federal agencies and
private organizations as well as the agriculture and economic
censuses. Supplementing these compilations are manually digitized
consumer market data, religious data, and vital statistics, including
information about births, deaths, marriage, and divorce.

Study Description

Citation

Gutmann, Myron P. Great Plains Population and Environment Data: Social and Demographic Data, 1870-2000 [United States]. ICPSR04296-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-02-07. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04296.v2

Universe:
All the counties in the 10 Great Plains states of the
United States (Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming).

Data Type(s):
aggregate data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) A detailed list of census and other documents used
to compile these data is provided in the codebook. (2) Every attempt
has been made to give the variables consistent names, as shown in the
documentation for these files. It is important for data users to
recognize that there are sometimes significant but subtle differences
between what may appear to be the same variable in two different
census years. Where possible, the technical documentation emphasizes
those differences, but to be certain of those differences, the data
user may need to do his or her own exploration into the sources.

Methodology

Sample:

Data drawn from the Consumer Market Data Handbook, the
Census of Religious Bodies, the Survey of Church Membership, and Vital
Statistics of the United States are not collected from a sample.
Details of data collection procedures for religion and vital
statistics information are available from the American Religion Data Archive and
the United States Department of Health and Human Services [Report
(PHS) 97-1003, 1997].

However, the United States Census of
Population and Housing does collect some information from samples of
persons and housing units. With the universe of all persons and
housing units in the United States, the following summarizes the
sampling methodology used in the United States Population Census from
1870 to 2000 (United States Department of Commerce, April 2002):

Sampling for the 1870-1930 United States Censuses

No sampling information was available for the years 1870 to
1930. Data represent 100 percent counts of the United States
population.

Sampling for the 1940 United States
Census

The person was the sampling unit in 1940. The
sample data collected information from 5 percent of the
population.

Sampling for the 1950 United
States Census

The person was the
sampling unit in 1950. The sample data collected population and
housing information for 20 percent of the population.

Sampling for the 1960 United States
Census

The sample data population
questions were asked of 25 percent of the population. For the housing
sample data, some questions were asked of 5 percent of the population,
some of 20 percent, and some of both (constituting a 25 percent sample
for those questions).

Sampling for the
1970 United States Census

The housing
unit was the sampling unit. For the sample data, some questions were
asked of 5 percent of the population, some of 15 percent, and some of
both (constituting a 20 percent sample for those questions).

Sampling for the 1980 United States
Census

For the STF3, one-half of all
housing units and persons in group quarters in incorporated places of
less than 2,500 persons were included in the sample. In all other
places, one-sixth of the housing units or persons in group quarters
were sampled. When both sampling rates were taken into account,
approximately 19 percent of the nation's housing units were included
in the census sample.

Sampling for the
1990 United States Census

A sample of
persons and housing units was asked more detailed questions about such
items as income, occupation, and housing costs in addition to the
basic demographic and housing information. The primary sampling unit
for the 1990 census was the housing unit, including all occupants. For
persons living in group quarters, the sampling unit was the
person. Housing units in governmental units with a precensus (1988)
estimated population of fewer than 2,500 persons were sampled at
1-in-2. Housing units in census tracts and block numbering areas
(BNAs) with a precensus count below 2,000 housing units were sampled
at 1-in-6 for those portions not in small governmental units
(governmental units with a population less than 2,500). Housing units
within census tracts and BNAs with 2,000 or more housing units were
sampled at 1-in-8 for those portions not in small governmental units.
Persons in group quarters were sampled at a 1-in-6 rate.

Sampling for the 2000 United States
Census

Every person and housing unit in
the United States was asked basic demographic and housing questions,
for example, race, age, relationship to householder, housing unit
vacancy status, and housing unit tenure. A sample of these people and
housing units was asked more detailed questions about items such as
income, occupation, and housing costs. The sampling unit for Census
2000 was the housing unit, including all occupants. There were four
different housing unit sampling rates: 1-in-8, 1-in-6, 1-in-4, and
1-in-2 (designed for an overall average of about 1-in-6). The Census
Bureau assigned these varying rates based on precensus occupied
housing unit estimates of various geographic and statistical entities,
such as incorporated places and interim census tracts. For people
living in group quarters or enumerated at long-form eligible service
sites (shelters and soup kitchens), the sampling unit was the person,
and the sampling rate was 1-in-6.

Mode of Data Collection:
record abstracts

Data Source:

Census volumes for pertinent years by the United States
Bureau of the Census

HISTORICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL DATA: THE
UNITED STATES, 1790-1970 (ICPSR 0003)

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES, 1930-1950: COUNTY-LEVEL (ICPSR 0020)

NET MIGRATION OF THE POPULATION BY AGE, SEX, AND RACE,
1950-1970 (ICPSR 8493), and NET MIGRATION OF THE POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES BY AGE, RACE AND SEX, 1970-1980 (ICPSR 8697)